"Singleton's music is playful, free, sometimes quite funny, sometimes a bit funky. Sing to the Sun (1995) is a lightly scored entertainment for children's chorus, clarinet, oboe, piano, and percussion and a narrator who reads optimistic texts by Ashley Bryan that children of any age would enjoy. (Bryan himself performs the poems for the recording, and his articulate, grandfatherly voice fits the bill perfectly.) It's a cheerful, unassuming piece and probably as good an introduction to Singleton's music as anyone might want. Apple (1984) and 50 Times around the Sun (1999) are more cerebral, gestural pieces involving clarinet. The former is an extended (nearly 20-minute) essay for clarinet quartet that reaches a climax of rhythmically infectious and technically demanding patterns for all four instruments. 50 Times is more rhapsodic and melancholy; it is beautifully played by David Shifrin and the pianist Anne- Marie McDermott." -ARG